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Wednesday, 4 March 2015

(vol 2) Chapter 08: “A Flash In The Pan”

Flash Fiction is the art of conveying a story within a very
tight word budget.

Some of the best Flash Fiction authors I know are able to
include a beginning, a middle, and an ending (as well as character development
and plot resolution) in just 200 words.

It’s a hell of a skill to pull off a great piece of Flash Fiction.
I’m not dissing authors that write in different forms but, whether you're writing
interlinked short stories, bookshelf busting novels or a collection of poetry, each
style has a set of rules to make it work.

There are two three things I love about the Flash
Fiction contests I take part in. First is the consistency. I may fall behind on
the bigger stuff but there is at least one piece of Flash Fiction produced every
week, without fail.

Next are the prompts themselves. Whether it's photos, story
elements or key words, these forced elements constantly push me outside my comfort
zone. A year ago I would have laughed if you’d even suggested I might one day write
a comedy set around the Declaration of Independence (AMERICA
CAN WAIT) or a dark drama centring on spousal abuse (THE CLIMB).
And yet I’ve done this and more. I’ve shed my need to write only supernatural
sci-fi fantasy and tried other things, things my own mother might even consider
‘real writing’ (just kidding mum). Sure, I mostly stick to these genres because
that’s what I love but now I can think a little more outside the box.

But the one thing that makes me happiest with these 200 or
300 word stories is that sense of completion. I struggled for years with not
getting to the end of novels or short stories. With my almost non-existent
attention span and constant supply of new ideas I have a lot of beginnings and
not much else. But Flash Fiction had minute word counts and deadlines; one
afternoon to imagine, plan, write and edit a story. And when you’ve posted it, that’s
it. All done. Finished. Final.

Or is it?

You see, one of the greatest things a Flash Fiction writer
can do is paint a bigger world between the gaps in their story, to hint at
something larger, something their story is just a snap shot of.

But what if I’ve written a story and want to explore more.
Well there are two ways forward; one is to write other stories set in the same
world. The other is to rewrite the story without that word count constraint.
Now there’s the argument that it might be that constraint that made the story
work in the first place; no room to blabber on, every word counts and leaving
stuff open to the readers imagination.

I’ve thought about this on several occasions but I’ve always
walked away. If the story is a complete package at 200 then surely I should let
it be, right? Will they lose their strengths if I stretch them out? Or can I
use some of them as first drafts or outlines for something bigger?

Let’s be clear; I’m not planning on turning 100 flash fiction
stories into 100,000 word novels. Believe me; some of my stories just won’t
work in any format.

But some might just. Here’s an example.

My January 23rd Flash! Fiction entry, INTO THE
WATER is set in a world where the elderly aren’t left to grow old and
become a burden to the state. Instead, on a citizens 65th birthday,
they line up on the beaches before wading out into our nations surrounding
waters where they are gifted to some truly horrific creatures that lie in wait (think
Lovecraft) almost like a ritual sacrifice.

It came in at 197 words and barely contained any of this in a
clear way. Should I count this story as a failure and leave it behind or was it
a novella born in a Flash Fiction body? Perhaps we have a girl who doesn’t agree
with this, even though her country has carried out this ritual for hundreds of
years. Maybe she tries to hide her grandmother from the authorities. Perhaps there’s
something bigger going on behind the scenes and things aren’t what they seem.
Or what about if she goes into the water after her grandmother and takes on
these creatures of legend?

It could go several ways and I’d like to try. Of course I’m
also someone who said George Lucas should leave the trilogy alone so I’d be a
little bit of a hypocrite going back on previous ‘finished’ material.

What do you guys think? Should completed stories be left as
they are or is there room to expand them? Have any of you had success which a
short story made large?